Agreement for Financial Support to “STARS Project”

What is the News?

Department of Economic Affairs(DEA) and World Bank signed an agreement for the financial support on the Strengthening Teaching-Learning And Results for States(STARS) project.  

STARS project:

• The project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• Aim: To improve the overall monitoring and measurement activities in the Indian school education system through interventions in selected states.
• Coverage: The project covers 6 States: Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Odisha.
• Implementation:
  • At National level, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education(MOE) will be the main implementing agency.
  • At the State level, the project will be implemented through the integrated State Implementation Society(SIS) for Samagra Shiksha.
• World Bank Funding: The World Bank’s support is primarily in the form of a results-based financing instrument called Program for Results(PforR). This will ensure major reforms at the State level through a set of disbursement-linked indicators(DLIs).
  • A State Incentive Grant(SIG) will also be used to encourage States to meet desired project outcomes.
• Verification: An independent Verification agency(IVA) will verify each result before disbursement of funds.
• Impact: The STARS project will be instrumental in the implementation of various recommendations of National Education Policy 2020 namely:
  • Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Foundational Learning
  • Improving Learning Assessment System
  • ICT-enabled approaches in education,
  • Teachers Development and Vocational education etc.

Source: PIB